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View Full Version : Need advice for cat-caught chipmunk. Bloating?



skarabrae
08-27-2012, 08:10 AM
Hey all, a friend of an acquaintance brought me a little guy who had been caught by their cat. :shakehead

He seems to be a young one, around 30 grams.

His back legs are either broken or sprained, possibly some damage to his pelvis.

I have him on baytril, of course. I have him in a medium sized rubbermaid container so he can't climb around. I can't get prednisone for his legs and I don't want to use ibuprofin because of the next issue.

He's been a wee bit bloated since the morning after he was brought over. If you're looking at his belly, there is a rather hard dark mass to the right of his bladder. I wasn't sure what if what I was looking at was normal or not, because I rarely examined my other chippies' bellies, but it didn't seem life threatening.

Now, I'm wondering if he is or was bleeding internally. The mass has grown and looks uncomfortable, but I don't know if there's anything I can do about this. Apart from the dark mass, his belly is bloated but still jello-ish (not hard, but there's fluid or gas in there for sure). If the dark stuff is fecal matter, I have to say this little guy is super duper regular and has healthy poops very frequently.

I did manually express his bladder (and will continue to if he needs it). I'm not 100% sure if he's urinating on his own. It helped a little bit.

I started giving him "baths" in luke warm water and gently massaging the area downwards (he seems to like that, actually).

Otherwise, I'm not sure what to do.

In almost three days he's gone from totally dragging his back end around (and his whole body was twisted up) to now using his one leg and being able to somewhat get his other leg occasionally up underneath himself. His legs aren't really my primary concern right now... I'm just wondering what's causing this bloating.

Could it be the baytril?

skarabrae
08-27-2012, 08:36 AM
Pictures worth a thousand words :)

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e257/mum2james/IMG_2684.jpg

After his "bath"
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e257/mum2james/IMG_2686.jpg

His dark mass
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e257/mum2james/IMG_2688.jpg

When I went up a few minutes ago, I noticed most of the bloating seems to be gone... but the dark mass moved to his right side from his left side, and seems a bit bigger.

He's so normal and active and perky... I hope this is something he can get through.

ETA: It's hard to tell from the picture, but the dark part is a bit raised and when you touch it it's hard as a rock. :(

skarabrae
08-27-2012, 09:53 AM
Bumping for some help... I know there's not much I can do about this, but I'd just like to know what you guys think about the bruising or whatever this is... :(

Jackie in Tampa
08-27-2012, 10:06 AM
I am lurking but not sure..if it moved from one side to the other??/ what do you think it is???
a bruise would not move, a leakage would pool on the side where he was laying on..
could this be internal bleeding? yikes..
when did you find him? sorry, i am not up on my threads , ashamed.
I have never touched a chippie, I am jealous..

CritterMom
08-27-2012, 10:08 AM
Bruising wouldn't move from one place to another - it might spread but wouldn't move. I wonder if this is a mass of poop that has yet to come out??

He is adorable - God I love chippies!

skarabrae
08-27-2012, 10:33 AM
Jackie, you didn't miss anything... this is the first time I've posted about him. I've been out of the house for the last few days except for an hour here and there to take care of the little guy. He was found just outside of town being toyed with by a cat. Owner found him and contacted a friend who brought him to me. Apparently everyone in town knows I'm the squirrel girl. It's a pretty redneckish place, so they probably make fun of me for it. Sigh.

The mass has definitely moved... or maybe it's gotten larger... I just don't know.

He seems so chipper though (pun intended)... and it's already been nearly three days that I've had him and his legs are recovering shockingly quickly. Initially I thought his spine was broken because both legs were useless and when he was dragging himself his whole back end was twisted under.

I used to rescue baby birds that had fallen out of their nests, so I'm not unfamiliar with internal bleeding and this seems similar to what I've seen before except that he's not failing as quickly as I would expect... he's actually improving in every other way.

I'm mostly concerned about the fact that he may not be peeing on his own. If I have to express his bladder, then I'll be pushing firmly (but gently) on that area. When I express, his urine is rusty orange at first then turns lighter as more is expressed. ETA - he's drinking about 3ml of water via syringe every 3 or 4 hours, so I'd be surprised if he was dehydrated.

I might be between a rock and a hard place here. :( Guess it's wait and see? I'm not giving ibuprofin though... don't want to make things worse.

skarabrae
08-28-2012, 11:31 AM
Well, he's still alive and spunkier than ever. I can hardly catch him now, and he's can nearly struggle out of his burrito. He's almost jumped right out of plastic bin a few times, so I think I might have to call it quits on the special treatment... if he's this active, he can't possibly have anything serious wrong.

PS. His legs, which had no mobility at all and just hung when he dragged himself around, are healing up quick! His right leg is 100% normal, and the left leg has motion and he holds it under himself when he's walking, though it still sometimes slips out of place and gets caught underneath him when he's running. These little guys are pretty amazing!